Point Breeze plans for extensive dewatering system in controversial phase two of hotel

Monday

Mar 31, 2008 at 2:00 AM

By Joshua Balling I&M Managing Editor

Engineers for the proposed Point Breeze Hotel renovation and expansion have unveiled plans for an extensive dewatering system they say will address flooding and stormwater concerns both during and after construction on the Easton Street property.

The proposal – presented to the Planning Board late last month as part of the second phase of construction on the luxury condominium and hotel complex – calls for the creation of an underground pipeline from the Point Breeze property that will be installed when the streets in the Brant Point neighborhood are opened for improvements to the town’s stormwater drainage system later this year or early next year, said Dale McKinnon of Nantucket Surveyors. During construction, the water would be pumped via above-ground pipes to outflow pipes at Children’s Beach.

The plans also call for the installation of steel sheeting 19 feet into the ground around a proposed underground parking garage to support the structure and stop stormwater infiltration, McKinnon said.

The system should not only benefit the Point Breeze, but the surrounding neighborhood, said Ed Pesce, the town’s engineer reviewing the project.

“They are looking at a way to remove stormwater from the site, and get it to the harbor without impacting the neighborhood,” he said. “They’d be pumping their own stormwater through their own private pipeline. It will have a net positive benefit on the current conditions because it won’t go into the existing neighborhood storm drain system. It’s a way to handle the construction phase, and have a system in place for the post-construction phase. They are doing their level best at this time to address your concerns.” Marine Superintendent Dave Fronzuto, however, questioned the amount of water that would be entering Nantucket Harbor.

“Is this going to be a perpetual system? From what I know of that area, they are going to be pumping from now until doomsday. This is an enormous project in terms of gallonage going into harbor.”

He also asked about filtration, and was assured the water leaving the Point Breeze property would be filtered several times over.

Palm Beach, Fla. developer and Cliff Road summer resident Bob Matthews has already received approval for the first phase of construction at The Point Breeze: the conversion of the existing hotel into an upscale 36-unit condominium club.

The second phase calls for construction of The Maidstone, a a 39-room, 17,235 square-foot hotel at the corner of Easton and North Beach streets, elevated tennis courts atop the underground parking lot and the conversion of an historic barn into a recreation space complete with a bowling alley.

The Historic District Commission was critical of the design earlier this month, but attorney Sarah Alger, representing the project, said the designers considered it constructive and are reworking the plans to address the HDC concerns.

“It was a positive meeting. They came away with a very definite direction on what they wanted to see in the plans,” she said.

Originally built in 1891, the hotel’s west wing was destroyed by fire in 1925 and reopened a year later. The Point Breeze was renamed the Gordon Folger in 1936, following a sale to Gordon M. Folger, who named the hotel in honor of his father. In 1997, the Gordon Folger was renamed the Point Breeze by its new owners, Bee and Paul Gonnella, who sold the property in 2005 to Matthews for $3.7 million.

The Planning Board continued the public hearing on the project to a special meeting April 3.

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